Two of A Kind
by SparksJSH
Summary: Carter and Dana discover they have a lot in common.


Two of a Kind

_**Disclaimer:** Saban owns them, I'm just using them. _

**Author's Note:** This is a standalone story but it follows the history I gave Captain Mitchell and Dana in A Father's Pride. This story takes place not long after A Test of Fire (I think that was the title of the episode where we learn about Carter's childhood.) Now on with the story… 

### Two of a Kind  
by: Jennifer Hart

"The thing to remember when assisting any person who has been injured is not to cause any more harm." Dana looked at her fellow rangers. Her gaze settled on Carter. For some reason, her heart gave a little flutter as she noticed he was wearing a red sleeveless shirt and tight blue jeans. With a flicker of annoyance, she pushed aside the response. "One way to ensure that is to make sure they don't move if they might have a spinal injury. Even if you can do nothing else for them until medical teams arrive, you can hold C-spine to prevent further injury. Carter, come here and let me demonstrate on you." 

Carter swallowed hard. He had only been halfway paying attention to her words, so mesmerized was he by just the sound of her voice. She motioned him forward again and directed him to lie down on the ground. He did so, hoping none of the others could tell how flustered he was. 

Dana knelt beside his head and pushed her wispy blonde hair back out of her way. "Hold their head in your hands in a gentle firm grip where the patient can't move it around. In this position, you can also lean close to check to make sure the patient is breathing." 

Dana cupped Carter's head in her hands with her thumbs just behind his ears and applied firm pressure to the sides of his head. What was with this sudden urge to run her fingers through his short brown hair? As Dana leaned close to check his breathing, Carter had to forcefully stop himself from reaching up and kissing her. What was going on with him? He'd been through plenty of first-aid classes with the fire department and had even had other females practice C-spine immobilization on him. But none of them had ever left him with his heart racing as fast as it was now with Dana hovering so close. 

"Okay, if we're busy fighting the bad guys, how are we going to have time to help the injured?" Joel's question snapped both the red and pink ranger back to what was happening. Dana released her hold on Carter. He sat up both relieved and disappointed to no longer be a part of her demonstration. Dana frowned. 

"Isn't this whole thing about saving lives? I'm not saying we stop in the middle of fighting to help the injured but I think we have a duty to help people after the battle is over. People become injured because we are fighting; shouldn't we help them instead of just leaving for the Aqua Base?" 

"I think we do." Carter agreed with her. Dana flashed him a smile of thanks. 

"No offense, but you two are trained to save lives. This comes natural to you, but it's harder for the rest of us." Chad came to Joel's defense. 

"It may be harder but Dana and Carter are right. We have an obligation to help. We have an obligation to learn from each other." Kelsey added her opinion and then smiled. "Besides I didn't hear anyone complaining about learning to rappel the other day." 

Joel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but that was fun." 

Dana shook her head and practically growled under her breath. She stood. "Fine, class dismissed. I'd hate for you to miss out on any fun. Go on and go." 

She started stuffing the equipment she had strategically placed around the room back into the boxes and bags they belonged in. Joel, Chad, Kelsey and Carter all exchanged looks. Carter motioned for them to leave for a few minutes. Once alone with the pink ranger, Carter cupped her shoulders. For a moment she tensed up but then she relaxed. "I'm sorry I blew up like that." 

"Don't be. This is all new to us. We'll all get better at this teammate stuff." 

Dana sighed and sat on the nearest bench. "It's just that I think about those people who were injured in our first battle and the women and children in the burning building and I see how dangerous our job is for civilians. I feel bad that these people are hurt because of us." 

Carter sat beside her and reached over and took her hand in his. "We aren't responsible. Diabolico wants to destroy everything. It's because of us that more people aren't hurt." 

"I know that logically but I can't convince myself emotionally." Dana admitted. 

Carter squeezed her hand. "I can understand that. I went through the same thing at my first fire. We were called to an apartment fire. We knew there was a family trapped on the third floor but to get to them we had to bust in the front door of the building. We knew it would cause a backdraft so we made sure we were out of the way of the blast. We saved the family but we found the body of a man on the first floor. We blamed ourselves for his death; it was obvious the backdraft was what killed him. I was ready to quit right then." 

"What changed your mind?" Dana watched him carefully. There was so much she didn't know about her new teammates. It surprised her just how much she wanted to know everything about the red ranger sitting next to her. 

"My captain realized I was beating myself up blaming myself for this man's death. He took me aside and asked me what I thought would have happened to the man and the family if we hadn't responded to the fire." 

Dana, with her medical knowledge, knew instantly what smoke inhalation would have done to everyone in that building. "They would have all died." 

Carter nodded. "Yeah. Maybe we didn't save that one man but we did rescue a family of four. My squad made a difference then and Joel, Chad, Kelsey, you and I are making a difference now." 

Dana stretched up and kissed Carter on the cheek. "Thank you." 

Carter blushed as red as his shirt. "For what?" 

"For reminding me of what I learned straight out of paramedic school. We can't save everybody; we do what we can for the ones we can help and try not to dwell on the ones that we can't. I still think we should all know first-aid though." 

Carter laughed. "Hey, I agreed from the beginning on that. Give them time, Dana." 

"We don't even need that much time." Kelsey reentered the room and smiled at them. Chad and Joel were standing in the doorway. "Just go easy on us." 

* * *

"I'm bushed." Carter admitted to Dana a couple of hours later when class was over. The two rangers were alone and Carter was helping Dana put away the equipment. 

"Me too. But I think everyone learned a lot. Thanks for helping me put this stuff away." She smiled at him. 

Carter ducked his head. When had her smile started to reduce him to a puddle? "No problem, Dana. You want to grab a bite to eat after we get this stuff put away?" 

Dana stopped, backboard in hand. She swallowed hard. "Sure." 

Ten minutes later the two rangers were walking side by side toward the cafeteria. Carter held the door open for her as they entered. Once they had their trays and were sitting at the table, Carter broke the silence. "What made you decide to be a paramedic?" 

Dana shrugged. "My mom was a doctor. She liked helping people. She put her practice on hold to help Dad and their friends start this project." 

Carter was surprised. "Have we met her?" 

Dana shook her head. "No, she died when I was five. One of the domes they were working on collapsed. Dad barely got me to safety but Mom and three of their friends were killed and another paralyzed from the waist down." 

"I'm sorry." Carter didn't know what else to say but reached over and touched her cheek. 

"I think Dad has felt guilty every day since then for not being able to do more. He felt helpless. I guess his feeling of helplessness rubbed off on me so much that I never wanted to know what that felt like. So, turn about is fair play; why did you become a firefighter?" 

Carter grinned. "Actually for the longest time I wanted to be a superhero. But then when I was about ten, I was trapped in a fire. I thought I was going to die but suddenly there was this firefighter He saved my life and died in the process. I grew up wanting to be just like him. He _was_ a superhero in my book." 

"And now you are both a superhero and a firefighter. You have the best of both worlds." Dana smiled. "I never realized how much we have in common. We both have survivor's guilt." 

Carter eyed her questionaly. "Survivor's guilt?" 

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, we both survived something where others didn't. It completely changes your whole outlook on life. I have always felt guilty that because Dad rushed me to safety he couldn't save Mom and their friends." 

Hating to see her look so forlorn, Carter reached out and squeezed Dana's hand. "You were only a little kid." 

"So were you but I bet you feel bad that the firefighter died saving you." 

"Sometimes." Carter admitted honestly. But then I try to remember that he died doing his job. Besides I bet your mother wouldn't have wanted to live if you hadn't survived. I know I'm glad you did" 

Dana blushed. Before either could say anything, their communicators beeped and Captain Mitchell addressed them "Rangers, report to the launch bay. A monster is attacking Mariner Bay." 

Carter shrugged. "Looks like duty calls." 

* * *

"Joel, you, Kelsey and Chad keep Batteringhead busy. Dana and I will take care of Vypra." 

The red and pink rangers took off running toward the warehouse where Vypra and a small crew of Battalings were terrorizing a group of citizens. Carter took on Vypra as Dana began to fight the Battalings. Suddenly from the corner of her eye, Dana saw a support pylon about to fall on a crowd of scared citizens. 

Shouting out a warning, she ran toward them. The pylon began to fall but Dana tried to push it back up at least long enough for the people to get clear. The weight became too much as the last person moved out of range. The pylon fell pinning the pink ranger beneath it. 

"NO!" Carter screamed as Dana collapsed under the weight of the pylon. She lay there unmoving. He knew her suit would protect her for a short amount of time. But if she demorphed while the pylon was still on her; it would kill her. Forgetting about Vypra, Carter raced to her side. Using the extra strength his powers offered him as well as some the fear and adrenaline surging through him gave him, Carter managed to move the heavy concrete off his teammate. 

She was no sooner free than her power suit shimmered and vanished. Scared, Carter leaned close to check her breathing and with shaky hands felt for a pulse. He was so afraid he wouldn't find either. But to his relief, her could feel her warm breath against his cheek and her pulse was steady. He wanted nothing more to pull her in his arms and run with her to safety but then he remembered her first-aid class just that day. 

Moving her was out of the question; if she had a spinal injury, moving her would make it worse. Instead, he firmly took her head in his hands just like she had demonstrated on him just hours ago. He had to get her help though. He would never forgive himself if she were seriously hurt. Everything else faded to the background except for the young woman lying injured beside him. 

"Carter, Dana, we need you." Chad's voice came over the communicator. Carter ignored it. The battle was all forgotten in his mind. All that mattered to him was that Dana was hurt. He just sat there unable to do anything but hold her head in his hands until a firm hand squeezed his shoulder. He looked up, only half surprised to see Captain Mitchell. 

"Go on, Carter, the rest of your team needs you. I'll take care of Dana." 

Without a word, Carter nodded. He knew that Dana's father had to be just as frantic with worry as he was. As he looked up he saw an air of understanding in the Captain's eyes. As much as Carter wanted to stay, he knew he had to help the others. With one last look at his injured friend, Carter left to join Joel, Kelsey and Chad. 

* * *

"Man, that was one mean hombre." Joel commented as the Rangers returned to the Aqua Base. Carter was silent. He was too worried about Dana to join in celebrating their latest victory. Spotting Ms. Fairweather, the red ranger broke away from the crowd. 

"How's Dana?" The question asked, Carter unconsciously held his breath, fearing the worst. 

Ms. Fairweather smiled. "Relax Carter. Dana will be fine. The doctor said she has a couple of bruised ribs and a slight concussion. She didn't even have to stay in the hospital. She's in her room now." 

Carter's face broke out in a grin. He started toward the corridor leading to the sleeping quarters. Before he got two feet, Ms. Fairweather stopped him by calling his name. Reluctantly, he turned to look at her. She smiled, a knowing gleam in her eyes. " I know you two have a lot to talk about, but just remember, she needs to rest." 

* * *

Dana was far from resting. She was pacing her quarters, up and down, waiting for word that the others were safe. She hated being on the sidelines. She should be out there helping the others battle Batteringhead, not confined to her room under orders to rest. So wound up was she that she jumped when her door chimed. 

She quickly opened the door and was relieved to see Carter standing there. Tears touching her eyes, Dana hugged her tightly. She couldn't suppress the soft groan though as the movement sent a ripple of pain across her bruised abdomen. Concerned Carter pulled back. "You're supposed to be resting." 

"I was too worried about you." Dana blushed. "I mean all of you." 

"Batteringhead was tough but no match for us. I was worried about you." Now it was Carter's turn to blush. "I mean we all were." 

"It takes more than a ton of concrete to take me down for long. Those people are okay aren't they?" 

Carter smiled. It never ceased to amaze him how unselfish she was. "They're fine, thanks to you. Man, when you were lying there unconscious, I was afraid you were seriously hurt." 

"Yeah, well, apparently someone took real good care of me. You must have a had a good teacher." She gave him an innocent smile. 

Carter laughed. "Only the best." Then he grew serious. "You know what scared me the most when you were hurt?" 

Dana shook her head, somber now herself. "What?" 

He took her head tenderly in his hands almost like he had done in the warehouse. "That I'd never get the chance to tell you that I like you." 

Dana smiled, her cheeks pink. "I like you too, Carter." 

The red ranger shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant." 

Dana stopped him. "I know what you meant, Carter There's something there between us. I can feel it. I don't think either of us can deny it any longer." 

"But what about the nonfrat rule?" 

"What rule? Ms. Fairweather made that up so she wouldn't hurt Joel's feelings." 

"Oh." 

"So, are you going to kiss me or what?" 

Without any more encouragement, Carter leaned toward her and softly covered her lips with his own. As the two rangers kissed neither saw Captain Mitchell standing in the doorway, watching them. Finally he turned away and looked up, tears in his eyes. 

"Looks like our little girl's all grown up Kim. Looks like she's chosen a good man too. I think you would be proud."   
  


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